1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hydrotherapy systems and devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hydrotherapy spa designed for a single person. The spa preferably has a comparatively smaller profile than conventional spas and includes a seat within a tub enclosure. The hydrotherapy spa has a plurality of water/air jets that are fed from a very high horse-power system of one or more centrifugal pumps. The spa also includes a system for individually controlling the jets, including the number of jets, the air water mixture and the horsepower of the water fed to each jet for targeted hydrotherapy. The spa combines the advantages of hot water therapy with muscle and joint manipulation for an intense massaging and kneading effect.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For centuries man has known of the healing powers of warm water. Before the modern portable spa, people have enjoyed the relief of pain and tension offered by natural hot springs. Today, bathing appliances in the nature of spas or hot tubs have become commercially successful. Today's spa technology can offer specific therapeutic benefits known as hydrotherapy to improve physical and mental well being.
For example, painful or inflamed joints from arthritis can cause muscles to tense in an effort to protect them. Warm water and hydrotherapy help relax the muscles and allow greater range of motion in the joints. Pain is often reduced, even after leaving the spa. Also, when exercising, microscopic-tears in the muscle and lactic acid build up. The warm massaging action of a spa will accelerate the healing process, and allows the lactic acid to be carried away from the muscles. Furthermore, when submerged in water the body is about 1/10 its normal weight. Buoyancy is a key element of relaxation and stress relief. It helps overcome the effects of gravity and relieves stress on the joints. Additionally, warm swirling water reduces stress and allows people to rest and get a better nights sleep. Experts recommend that people who suffer from sleeplessness soak in a spa at 100 to 104 degrees F. for 15 minutes before bedtime.
Most important in hydrotherapy is pain relief. The release of endorphins, which are natural painkillers for the body is stimulated by warm water. When the body is in warm water, blood vessels near the skin relax, allowing more blood to flow, bringing endorphins and nutrients to damaged cells. Treating the neck with hydrotherapy is useful for vertigo, mild depression, hypersensitivity to weather changes, tenseness in shoulder and neck, headaches and migraines. Hydrotherapy for the chest is useful for angina pectoris, bronchial asthma and bronchitis. Water therapy for the upper trunk (upper torso and arms) is useful for improving blood flow to the heart, lungs and pleura. It is useful for stimulating respiratory and cardiac activity, toning up, varicose veins, nervous excitability, headaches, disease of larynx and vocal cords, bronchial asthma and bronchitis. This method of hydrotherapy should not be used if there is blood stasis in the pulmonary circulation. Using hydrotherapy on the arms is useful for cold hands, catarrh in the nose and throat, headaches, vertigo, heart problems, rheumatism of the arms, neuralgia, paralysis and nervous disorders. Treating the hips with hydrotherapy is useful ailments affecting the abdomen, reproductive system, inflammations, pelvic congestion, cramps, hemorrhoids, kidney pain and intestinal pain. It is also useful for treatment of enlargement of the gall bladder and stone formation, enlargement of the liver, and diabetes mellitus. It should not be used for sciatica, irritable bladder, urinary tract infections or during menstruation. Hydrotherapy for the thighs can help improve poor circulation and stimulate blood flow. It is useful in the treatment of arthritis, paralysis, muscular rheumatism and varicose veins. Water therapy for the thighs should also not be used for sciatica, irritable bladder, urinary tract infections or during menstruation. Treating the toes (i.e., reflexology), feet and legs with hydrotherapy is useful for headaches and migraines, varicose veins, contusions, sleeplessness and low blood pressure. This type of water therapy can help ward off vascular damage and influence the digestive and reproductive organs. Like the hips and thighs, hydrotherapy for the toes, feet and legs should not be used for sciatica, irritable bladder, urinary tract infections or during menstruation.
Typical bathing appliances in the nature of spas or hot tubs spas are constructed as a molded shell to form a water containment or fluid enclosure having a footwell or floor and an upstanding sidewall. Molded within the enclosure are a plurality of therapy stations which may include seats or platforms for reclining. The shell is typically constructed of fiberglass, plastic or a similar material, or a composite of such materials. One or more pumps are usually placed under the shell to draw water from the enclosure and discharge it, usually with air, into the enclosure through a plurality of nozzles or jets of various types. The jets are usually mounted through the shell in either or both of the floor and sidewall. Typically, jets mounted through the sidewall are located below the water line of the spa, and in any event, the jets are designed to provide a comforting or therapeutic effect to a person occupying a therapy station. Water lines or piping are provided between the various jets, pumps and water inlet ports, and are usually comprised of polyvinylchloride (“PVC”) piping and flexible tubing. Various filters, heaters, cleaning units and diverter valves may also be provided in the typical spa.
Conventional hot tubs or spas generally have three or four main therapy stations or seats, typically a lounge seat and a pair of corner seats, or four corner seats. They may also have one or more side stations or seats. All of these stations are usually provided with a number of jets through which warm water is forced to provide the hydrotherapy effects. These spas circulate and pump the water through the jets using one or two pumps, which are typically located on one side of the spa for convenient access. Consequently, the system requires piping of significant length, diameter and complexity, and usually a number of diverter valves. Because of the significant lengths of piping between the pumps and the jets, significant frictional losses are encountered. In order to compensate for these frictional losses, conventional spas are usually provided with large pumps and motors. The typical spa of conventional design will have-one or two pumps of 4–6 HP, each of which has an output capacity at the pump of 230 gallons/minute. When one or more of these pumps of a conventional spa is operated, water is forced through jets at more than one station or seat, even if only one seat is occupied. This provides approximately 2–3 HP or 100 gallons per minute per station in the typical 4-seat tub, and only 8–16 gallons per minute per jet or approximately 0.2–0.3 HP per jet.
In recognition of some of these problems, spas have been developed that employ unitary hydrotherapy jet and pump assemblies, in which a pump is provided for each jet. Such assemblies are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,987 of Jaworski, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,168 to Mersmann and U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,954 to Idland. Such assemblies are typically limited to spas having several jets at a plurality of therapy stations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,073 to Eddington describes a system for adjusting the distribution of water flow between two supply pumps and the various therapy stations of a spa. A water supply line that is in fluid communication with all the jets is also connected to the pump outlets of the two pumps. Diverter valves are placed in the. supply line on opposite sides of each therapy station or at other locations between the therapy stations. By setting one of the diverter valves to the “closed” position, the flow will be blocked between one therapy station and the adjacent one. This will serve to divide the jets between the two pumps, so that one or more therapy stations are supplied by one pump and the remainder by the other pump.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,414 to May et al discloses a therapeutic spa having a number of jets at multiple therapy stations and having a separate control system for each therapy station. Each hydrotherapy assembly includes a separate fluid pump and a variable flow controller, which controller is adapted to control the flow of fluid from the discharge port of the pump through the jets into the enclosure.
Although the Eddington system represents an improvement over the typical conventional system described above, it still requires piping of significant length, diameter and complexity, which leads to significant frictional losses. Such a system would still require large pumps and motors in order to compensate for these frictional losses.
Consequently, most spa systems require piping of significant length, diameter and complexity, and usually a number of diverter valves. Because of the significant lengths of piping between the pumps and the jets, significant frictional losses are encountered. In order to compensate for these frictional losses, conventional spas are usually provided with large pumps and motors. Furthermore, a typical spa of conventional design will have two 6 HP pumps which provide minimal horsepower and gallons per minute to the various therapy stations and jets.
Thus, the prior art devices identified above suffer a host of disadvantages. None of the devices above provide for a hydrotherapy device that provides significant power to a single hydrotherapy station. Furthermore, none of the above devices provides a single hydrotherapy station that provides significant power to a jet or group of jets to provide targeted hydrotherapy to part of the body in need of more attention. The above mentioned devices, even where therapy can be targeted to a single station or a single group of jets, still provide only a small amount of horsepower and gallons per minute to these controlled jets.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful targeted hydrotherapy spa.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that has a small footprint compared to prior art hydrotherapy systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is lightweight and compact compared to prior art hydrotherapy systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is adapted to serve a single person seated upright in the spa.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is adapted to provide very high horsepower and flow at a plurality of jets to a single person in the spa.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is adapted to provide control of the flow rate to each of the jets in the spa.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is adapted to provide control of the air induction into the water at each jet in the spa.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a targeted hydrotherapy spa that is adapted to provide a high amount of flow and horsepower, in excess of one horsepower, to each jet in the spa.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention, as well as the invention itself, may be more fully understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.